John 7:25-44
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” c 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. [1]
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I had lunch yesterday with a couple of people from Mission India (www.missionindia.org), a mission organization that we’ve partnered with. It was exciting to hear about what God is doing in India, the dramatic growth of the church, in the face of persecution.
They told me an interesting story about one of the Mission India church planters who made his first visit to America a few years ago. As they put it, he was amazed at the “marvels” of America. When he arrived at the airport, he was quite thirsty, and so the first marvel he encountered was the price of bottled water at an American airport. Not wanting to spend so much he was directed to a drinking fountain.
This truly was a marvel. He had never seen one before. Quite amazing. People approached the drinking device, bowed before it and water sprang up. But when he approached it, and bowed before it nothing happened. He wondered if it only responded to Americans at first, but dismissed that idea and kept drying. But despite his bowing, nothing happened. He would see other people approach, bow, and magically water would leap into their mouths.
But he didn’t ask anyone for help. He was too embarrassed his lack of knowledge, too uncertain how to ask, unsure if he would speak his inquiry correctly. So he stood there thirsty, watching people drink, his own thirst unquenched.
There are people all around us who are thirsty. Thirsty for the true living water. And they don’t know how to ask. They may not even be aware of their need. As Christians, we know where the true drinking fountain is, the trust source of living water. And in Christ, we will never be thirsty, our spiritual need for live and forgiveness and wholeness met in him. Our calling is to show people where to find the water, how to operate the drinking fountain, how to quench their thirst in Jesus.
Eventually the man from India noticed the people placing a hand on a bar on the front of the device when they bowed. And so he drank.
My prayer is for the people that I will meet and be around today who are thirsty. I pray that God may use me in some way to direct them to the living water that it may well up within them to eternal life.
[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 7:25–44). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.